suddenly and without warning, dragons
by venusmelody
Summary: The one where Lucy meets a dragon while hunting for treasure. AU. For Nalu Week 2015.


Written for Nalu Week 2015 over on tumblr, in response to the day 3 prompt, _transformation_.

* * *

 **suddenly and without warning, dragons**  
by icecreamlova

* * *

This, Lucy realized two days and three hundred miles too late, had been a terrible idea.

Easy money, she'd thought. Giant treasure pile with maybe a zodiac key, she'd thought. Deserted cave, possibly a few wild animals, no match for her stellar spirits, she'd thought as she snatched the job listing from the guild's shelves and run away with gleeful anticipation.

Except her trek deep into the mountains had ended in a wide, spacious cave very much inhabited-by an actual _dragon_ with, of all things, _dusky pink scales_. It was also watching her with what Lucy thought was deep suspicion, but that wasn't surprising, since she'd been caught with her hand on the treasure pile.

"Um. Hi," Lucy said.

A cloud of flame puffled out of the dragon's nostril.

Several thoughts ran through Lucy's mind in the split second she stood frozen.

1) Dragon

2) She was going to kill Cana for helping her elbow everyone else out of the way to snatch this job

3) Cruel, unusual world, why did fate hate her?

4) DRAGON

5) Could she reach her zodiac keys in time to summon help?

The dragon shot toward her, and Lucy took an automatic step back. She snatched at her zodiac keys, shouting for Horologium and praying that she would be fast enough-

There was a roar, the world shuddering, and the entrance to the cave lit up with a hellish inferno. Lucy braced herself for impact, squeezing her eyes shut, even as glass and wood materialized around her. Safety. Support.

Lucy rested her head against Horologium's glass piece in relief. The glass, she was surprised to find, was cool against her forehead. She was alive.

When she finally gathered the strength to look up again, the first thing she saw were a pair of dark eyes right in front of her, filling her entire field of vision.

Lucy yelped, scuttling as far back as possible. It took her a moment to notice the face that pair of eyes belonged to, young and inquisitive, topped with a shock of pink hair. It was a boy about her age, standing with face pressed right up against Horologium's outside - much to his discomfort - watching her every move. His nose and cheeks were squashed flat against the glass pane, and that would have been an alarming enough sight even if Lucy hadn't had DRAGON still on her mind.

Except... from what she could see at that angle, there was no one behind him. The cave's entrance was scorched and pitted, and completely empty. And the ground around her, around Horologium, it was unmarked; undamaged. Maybe that fireball hadn't been meant for her.

"Thanks, Horologium," Lucy murmured. "You can let me out now."

Pink hair... pink like the dragon's scales... but the boy looked curious more than anything else.

The boy didn't move while she said goodbye to Horologium, but once Lucy met his eyes, he spoke. His accent was odd, difficult to place.

"I've never seen scales like that before," he said, blinking. "How'd you get them?"

"That was a friend," Lucy said with a shrug. "I just stayed inside him for safety, for a while."

The boy nodded, as though this made perfect sense. "Dad does that for me, sometimes." He tilted his head, grinning widely. By all accounts, it was an infectious grin, and Lucy found herself smiling back without realizing it. "I'm Natsu. And you're not a dragon."

"No. I'm human." She hesitated. "Natsu... about that treasure... I'm sorry. I didn't know it belonged to anyone. I wouldn't have taken any otherwise. Not that I've taken any!" Great, dig yourself into a bigger hole. "I mean... I thought it had been abandoned."

"Glad to hear it," Natsu said, "since it's mine." He strode past her to the treasure and began to fill his pockets, chuckling to himself.

Eep. Lucy held her hands up in a placating gesture. Wait, did dragons consider that a sign of peaceful surrender, too, or was it some grave insult only answerable by total war? She didn't know. No one knew. Because DRAGONS, who'd have thought they still existed?

"In that case, I'll just leave you to it," she said, trying to edge around him and reach that melted cave entrance. Very melted. Very dangerous. Not worth the risk. _Time to run_.

"-wait."

Despite herself, Lucy's foot stopped on the ground, and she raised her eyes to meet his again. He'd turned to follow her, hand slightly outstretched.

"You haven't even told me your name yet," Natsu said, and there was something... almost sad about him, though he was smiling widely.

"I-"

Did she tell him? Wasn't it a terrible idea to give dragons your name? Or dangerous people in general? Maybe she could give him Cana's name; but Lucy wasn't quite that angry at her friend.

She didn't get a chance to say it.

A second rumbling, the cave floors swaying as though an earthquake had hit. Lucy threw her hands out to steady herself, found Natsu's hands, and both of them tumbled onto the floor because apparently Natsu's balance in light of this - _oh god_ , she yelped mentally, as a boulder crashed into the floor beside them - wasn't any better than hers.

"What's going on?" she asked him, voice three octavies higher than usual.

"You can tell me later!" Natsu shouted, and he was up, dragging her along, and _why was he running deeper into the cave_. "I think the dragon's angry you touched his treasure."

"I thought that was _your treasure_!" she accused, her legs burning as she struggled to keep up with his frantic pace. She could see a light ahead, faint, but very much present. There must have been a second entrance to the cave, and the sight of it renewed her hope of surviving this encounter.

"It would have been mine in twenty minutes!" he yelled back, and oh god he was laughing as he ran.

A thief. He was a boy her age who could transform into a dragon - or a dragon who could transform into a boy who looked her age - and apparently he spent his days stealing from other dragons. How did she always get mixed up with these things?

They burst out of the entrance, and Lucy turned in time to see Natsu thumb his nose at whoever, or whatever, was behind them in the cave.

"You just had to do that didn't you?" Lucy sighed, redoubling her efforts to get as far away from the cave as possible.

* * *

An hour and a mile later, Lucy was bent over double, while Natsu hopped up and down, sneaking glances at her while he thought she wasn't looking. _Talk about adding insult to injury_ , Lucy thought, sucking in a deep breath, but couldn't find the energy to say so.

"Here," Natsu said abruptly, from somewhere to her left.

Lucy looked up from where she was trying not to gag at the ground, to see his dirt-speckled hands outstretched. Something, several somethings, were in his palm, shiny gold under the noon sun. Round, jewelled, intricate, and was that a key? "Natsu?"

"We ran out of there together," he shrugged. There was something hesitant about the way he said that. "I think I owe you half. If you only want a third, I'll be happy to keep the rest."

"Good thinking," Lucy said, snatching his offerings from him before he could make good on that reduction. She looked down at her fist, then back up at him.

Why was he still here? Why had he been keeping her company, looking around them for signs of danger while she struggled to catch her breath? Natsu wasn't even winded. He could have run off with this. And, Lucy noticed now that she was no longer in danger, there was dirt all over his clothing, clothing a few sizes too small, and Natsu was only her age.

 _Wait,_ he had called out to her. Lucy was beginning to wonder why.

"Thank you," she said. Then, slowly, added, "My name is Lucy."

* * *

fin.


End file.
